He was really dirty because he had been repairing the car.
Is it possible to say this even if the repairs have been completed, but I don't want to emphasize the completion just the fact that being dirty is a result of the action?
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Sign up to join this communityThe past perfect continuous (also called past perfect progressive) is used to show that an action started in the past and continued up to another point in the past. There is no implication that the action was either completed, or not completed, at the later point. At the time being discussed, he was really dirty because he had been repairing the car. That's all we know. He might have been still working, or have interrupted the work for a break, or have finished the job.